A
survivor
of
shipwrecks
and the
Spanish-American
and
Russo-Japanese
Wars, as
well as
revolutions
in Haiti
and
Central
America,
RADM
John
Hood
commanded
seven
U.S.
warships.
Launched
during
World
War II,
the
destroyer
bearing
his name
had an
equally
distinguished
career.
The JOHN
HOOD
(DD‑655)
was a
FLETCHER-class
destroyer.
She was
laid
down on
12
October
1942 by
the Gulf
Shipbuilding
Corp.,
Chickasaw,
Alabama,
and was
launched
25
October
1943.
The HOOD
was
commissioned
7 June
1944,
with CDR
Thomas
J.
Thornhill
in
command.

Following
her
shakedown
in the
Caribbean,
the new
destroyer
headed
for the
Pacific
on 21
August
1944,
arriving
at Mare
Island
on 6
September.
She set
out
almost
immediately
for the
Aleutian
Islands
and duty
with the
U.S.
forces
in the
North
Pacific
and
arrived
at Adak,
Alaska,
on 18
September.
The HOOD
joined
DesRon
57
operating
with
Rear
Admiral
J. L.
McCrea=s
Task
Force
92.
She
served
out the
rest of
the war
patrolling
the
stormy
waters
of the
North
Pacific.
Her
primary
offensive
mission
was to
harass
and
threaten
enemy
outposts
in the
Kurile
Islands,
more
than 600
miles
west of
Attu,
the most
westerly
of the
Aleutian
Islands.
Operating
well
beyond
the
range of
friendly
air
cover,
the task
force
made
nine
sorties
against
the
Kuriles
and five
offensive
sweeps
in the
Sea of
Okhotsk.
Throughout,
the
ships
were
hampered
by bad
weather.
Undaunted,
the JOHN
HOOD was
the only
ship of
the task
force
that
participated
in every
sortie
until
the war=s end.

In
November
she
engaged
in the
bombardment
of the
Japanese
base on
Matasuwa,
causing
considerable
damage
to the
installation.
She
continued
sorties
and
patrol
operations
in the
Kuriles
through
the
winter
and
spring
of 1945.
While
patrolling
in the
Sea of
Okhotsk
on 25
June
1945,
the HOOD
came
upon an
enemy
convoy
carrying
reinforcements
to the
badly
battered
Japanese
garrisons.
The
destroyer
assisted
in
sinking
one
cargo
ship and
is
believed
to have
sunk
another.
On 11
August
her task
group
conducted
one of
the
final
naval
operations
of the
war by
destroying
another
enemy
convoy.

With the
end
hostilities,
she
steamed
to Adak
to
prepare
for
occupation
duties.
The HOOD
left
Adak on
31
August
with a
large
force
headed
for
Northern
Japan.
The
battle-tested
destroyer
remained
in
Northern
Japanese
waters
with the
occupation
forces
until 18
November
when she
got
underway
for
home.
She
arrived
in
Charleston,
South
Carolina,
on 22
December
and
remained
there
until
she was
decommissioned
on 3
July
1946 to
enter
the
Atlantic
Reserve
Fleet.

The HOOD
was
recommissioned
on 3
August
1951,
with CDR
S. P.
Gantz at
the
helm,
and
immediately
underwent
major
modifications
that
prepared
her for
modern
fleet
operations.
Her
modernization
complete,
she left
Norfolk
on 29
June
1952 for
an
around‑the-world
cruise
that
included
peace‑keeping
patrols
with the
Seventhth
Fleet
off the
coast of
Korea.
She
returned
to
Norfolk
on 6
February
1954 for
repairs
and
coastal
training
operations
before
sailing
on 5
November
1955 for
Mediterranean
duty
with the
Sixth
Fleet
during
which
she
weathered
a storm.
Upon
returning
to
Norfolk
26
February
1956,
the
destroyer
underwent
a yard
period
for
repairs
to her
storm-damaged
mast.
She then
got
underway
for a
midshipmen
training
cruise
that
summer.
During
the
tense
Suez
crisis
in the
fall,
she
sailed
to
Lisbon
with
Task
Force 26
to stand
by for
action
if
needed.
By
December
she was
steaming
home
through
the
Virginia
Capes.

The year
1957 saw the
HOOD in
training
exercises
along the
Atlantic
coast
followed by
another
Sixth Fleet
cruise to
patrol the
turbulent
Middle
Eastern
waters.
Early in
1958, she
began
training
cruises,
then
operated
with the
fleet sonar
school and
engaged in
ASW
exercises
before being
transferred
to the
reserve
destroyer
squadron at
New York on
1 October
1959. She
continued
training
reservists
until 1
August 1961,
when
President
Kennedy
ordered a
callup of
reservists
when the
construction
of the
Berlin Wall
caused a
major Cold
War crisis.
The strong
American,
English, and
French
response to
the
communist
challenge
prevented a
major
conflict. As
tensions
eased, the
HOOD resumed
her duties
as a
reserve-training
destroyer in
New York in
August 1962.

The warship
was
decommissioned
in June
1964,
remaining in
reserve
until
stricken
from the
navy=s list on 1 December 1974. She
was sold for
scrap to
Luria Bros.
& Company of
Cleveland,
Ohio, on 12
April 1976
and removed
from navy
custody by
the end of
that month.
The JOHN
HOOD
received one
battle star
for her
World War II
service.

From The Tin
Can Sailor,
July 2011

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2011 Tin Can Sailors.
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